This newspaper article in the Morning Sentinel describes the success of a summer program for youth here in Bingham that I initiated and organized. I have chosen this artifact to show that my role as a teacher here in Bingham goes far beyond school walls and school hours. As a community member and as a local high school teacher, I feel that I am partly responsible for the welfare and well being of our community members. I believe that I have the skills, the ideas and the leadership to contribute to a healthy society. Not only have I started a unique project for children in which they could build and play with local resources (wood slabs and poles) to create a whole new town, I have also used my teaching skills to teach these children to cooperate, to persevere, and to create their own small community with all the civic decision making skills that go with it. As for my own position as an industrial arts teacher, I am preparing my future students with the basic skills and the joy in physical labor, for I believe that students learn best when the learning stems from the students’ own curiosity.
Here are some quotes from the article:
“We learned that you can build stuff a lot better if you have a bunch of people with a lot of ideas, instead of just one”, said Seth Malloy, 12, of Moscow.
“They didn’t want to stop,” said Francoeur, of Bingham (a volunteer), “You have to call them to come to eat because they don’t want to stop working”.
Adamse said she wasn’t surprised by how much the students accomplished in two short weeks. “I know what kids can do if they put their hearts into it”, she said, “It is about having free choice, about making decisions and working together”.
This newspaper article of the hut-building program referes to the positive change that some local volunteers are trying to bring about here in our community. I believe that this program was very successful in showing members of our community that with few resources and a lot of energy, we can create that change. The article not only showed that the children had a great time participating, but it also comments on them learning about cooperation, decision making and sharing. Free choice, and making their own decisions have been the motivators for the children who participated to achieve well.
A school cannot be isolated from the community and it needs the support from that community to continue educating its students, even after school. As a teacher leader I think this camp was very successful: the children had a great time, they reflected on the things they had learned (not only practical skills) and the people in town continue to compliment the program and the volunteers on the impact we have made on this community.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/6691390.html
